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Vulcan (hypothetical Planet)
Vulcan () was a proposed planet that some pre-20th century astronomers thought existed in an orbit between Mercury (planet), Mercury and the Sun. Speculation about, and even purported observations of, intermercurial bodies or planets date back to the beginning of the 17th century. The case for their probable existence was bolstered by the support of the French mathematician Urbain Le Verrier, who had predicted the existence of Neptune using disturbances in the orbit of Uranus. By 1859, he had confirmed unexplained peculiarities in Mercury's orbit and predicted that they had to be the result of the gravitational influence of another unknown nearby planet or series of asteroids. A French amateur astronomer's report that he had observed an object passing in front of the Sun that same year led Le Verrier to announce that the long sought after planet, which he gave the name Vulcan, had been discovered at last. Many searches were conducted for Vulcan over the following decades but, de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Dick (scientist)
Reverend Thomas Dick (24 November 1774 – 29 July 1857), was a British church minister, science teacher and writer, known for his works on astronomy and practical philosophy, combining science and Christianity, and arguing for a harmony between the two. Life and career Early life Thomas was brought up in the strict tenets of the Presbyterian United Secession Church of Scotland. His father, Mungo Dick, was a small linen manufacturer, and he raised Thomas to work in this trade. When he was nine years old, he saw a brilliant meteor and this sparked a passion for astronomy. He read, sometimes even when seated at the loom, every book on the subject within his reach. He acquired an old pair of spectacles, contrived a machine for grinding the lenses to the proper shape, mounted them in pasteboard tubes, and began celestial observations. His parents, at first afflicted by his eccentricities, let him choose his own lifestyle when he was sixteen years old. Education Dick became as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed. His book (''Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy''), first published in 1687, achieved the Unification of theories in physics#Unification of gravity and astronomy, first great unification in physics and established classical mechanics. Newton also made seminal contributions to optics, and Leibniz–Newton calculus controversy, shares credit with German mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz for formulating calculus, infinitesimal calculus, though he developed calculus years before Leibniz. Newton contributed to and refined the scientific method, and his work is considered the most influential in bringing forth modern science. In the , Newton formulated the Newton's laws of motion, laws of motion and Newton's law of universal g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paris Observatory
The Paris Observatory (, ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world. Its historic building is on the Left Bank of the Seine in central Paris, but most of the staff work on a satellite campus in Meudon, a suburb southwest of Paris. The Paris Observatory was founded in 1667. Construction was completed by the early 1670s and coincided with a major push for increased science, and the founding of the Royal Academy of Sciences. King Louis XIV's minister of finance organized a "scientific powerhouse" to increase understanding of astronomy, maritime navigation, and science in general. Through the centuries the Paris Observatory has continued in support of astronomical activities, and in the 21st century connects multiple sites and organizations, supporting astronomy and science, past and present. Constitution Administratively, it is a '' grand étab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
François Arago
Dominique François Jean Arago (), known simply as François Arago (; Catalan: , ; 26 February 17862 October 1853), was a French mathematician, physicist, astronomer, freemason, supporter of the Carbonari revolutionaries and politician. Early life and work Arago was born at Estagel, a small village of 3,000 near Perpignan, in the ' of Pyrénées-Orientales, France, where his father held the position of Treasurer of the Mint. His parents were François Bonaventure Arago (1754–1814) and Marie Arago (1755–1845). Arago was the eldest of four brothers. Jean (1788–1836) emigrated to North America and became a general in the Mexican army. Jacques Arago, Jacques Étienne Victor (1799–1855) took part in Louis de Freycinet's exploring voyage in the ''Uranie'' from 1817 to 1821, and on his return to France devoted himself to his journalism and the drama. The fourth brother, Étienne Arago, Étienne Vincent (1802–1892), is said to have collaborated with Honoré de Balzac in ''The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Refractor
A refracting telescope (also called a refractor) is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens as its objective to form an image (also referred to a dioptric telescope). The refracting telescope design was originally used in spyglasses and astronomical telescopes but is also used for long-focus camera lenses. Although large refracting telescopes were very popular in the second half of the 19th century, for most research purposes, the refracting telescope has been superseded by the reflecting telescope, which allows larger apertures. A refractor's magnification is calculated by dividing the focal length of the objective lens by that of the eyepiece. Refracting telescopes typically have a lens at the front, then a long tube, then an eyepiece or instrumentation at the rear, where the telescope view comes to focus. Originally, telescopes had an objective of one element, but a century later, two and even three element lenses were made. Refracting telescopes use technology tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edmond Modeste Lescarbault
Edmond Modeste Lescarbault (1814, Châteaudun – 1894, Orgères-en-Beauce), was a French medical doctor and an amateur astronomer, best remembered for his 1859 supposed observation of the non-existent planet Vulcan. He graduated and obtained his diploma from the University of Paris in 1848. He then started to work as a doctor in Orgères-en-Beauce and worked there until 1872 (the street where he worked is now named after him). A keen astronomer, he built an observatory with a 3.75 inches (95 mm) refractor by his house and began correspondence with various scientific societies. On 26 March 1859 he saw a small object transiting the Sun and having heard of Le Verrier's theory of an intramercurial planet named Vulcan, he wrote a letter to the astronomer and was consequently visited by him in December 1859. Le Verrier announced the discovery on 2 January 1860. Lescarbault became Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur and was invited to appear before numerous learned societie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Claudius Herrick
Edward Claudius Herrick (February 24, 1811 – June 11, 1862) was an American librarian and scientist. He was the first full-time librarian at Yale University. Early life and education He was the youngest child of Rev. Claudius Herrick, a much respected teacher in New Haven, Connecticut, and Hannah (Pierpont) Herrick. He was born in New Haven, on what is now a part of the Yale College square. After a good preliminary education, of which the College course did not form a part, he was Engaged as a clerk in the well known book-store of Gen. Hezekiah Howe, where excellent opportunities were afforded him to gratify his early thirst for knowledge. For a short time, he was in business as a bookseller on his own account. Career at Yale His official connection with the College commenced in 1843. As the Yale University Library was about to be removed to a new edifice, he was appointed Librarian, and he continued to discharge the duties of that office fifteen years, till his resignation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yale
Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Yale was established as the Collegiate School in 1701 by Congregationalist clergy of the Connecticut Colony. Originally restricted to instructing ministers in theology and sacred languages, the school's curriculum expanded, incorporating humanities and sciences by the time of the American Revolution. In the 19th century, the college expanded into graduate and professional instruction, awarding the first PhD in the United States in 1861 and organizing as a university in 1887. Yale's faculty and student populations grew rapidly after 1890 due to the expansion of the physical campus and its scientific research programs. Yale is organized into fifteen constituent schools, including the original under ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heinrich Schwabe
Samuel Heinrich Schwabe (25 October 1789 – 11 April 1875) was a German amateur astronomer remembered for his work on sunspots. He observed sunspots and made drawings of them from 1825 to 1867 and suggested in 1838 that there may be a ten-year cycle of sunspot activity. He also took an interest in botany and was a founding member of a natural history society in Dessau. Life and work Schwabe was born in Dessau, Germany, where his father was a physician to the duke. His mother was the daughter of apothecary Johann H. G. Häseler (1740-1812) and he too trained to be one in 1806 by joining the Dessau Mohrenapotheke owned by Häseler. After about three years he began to study at the University of Berlin training in pharmacy under Martin Heinrich Klaproth and Sigismund Friedrich Hermbstädt. He also took an interest in astronomy and botany and was forced to stop studies when his grandfather Häseler fell ill. After the death of Häseler in 1812, Schwabe was forced to take over the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astronomical Transit
In astronomy, a transit (or astronomical transit) is the passage of a astronomical object, celestial body directly between a larger body and the observer. As viewed from a particular vantage point, the transiting body appears to move across the face of the larger body, eclipse, covering a small portion of it. The word "transit" refers to cases where the nearer object apparent size, appears smaller than the more distant object. Cases where the nearer object appears larger and completely hides the more distant object are known as occultation, ''occultations''. However, the probability of seeing a transiting planet is low because it is dependent on the alignment of the three objects in a nearly perfectly straight line. Many parameters of a planet and its parent star can be determined based on the transit. In the Solar System One type of transit involves the motion of a planet between a Earth, terrestrial observer and the Sun. This can happen only with inferior and superior pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Mythology
Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these representations, and to the subject matter as represented in the literature and art of other cultures in any period. Roman mythology draws from the mythology of the Italic peoples and shares mythemes with Proto-Indo-European mythology. The Romans usually treated their traditional narratives as historical, even when these have miraculous or supernatural elements. The stories are often concerned with politics and morality, and how an individual's personal integrity relates to his or her responsibility to the community or Roman state. Heroism is an important theme. When the stories illuminate Roman religious practices, they are more concerned with ritual, augury, and institutions than with theology or cosmogony. Roman mythology also draws on Greek mythology, pri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
